TA Instruments TGA 2050, Operator'S Manual

Page: 67 / 130

TA I
NSTRUMENTS
TGA 2050 3–7
Preparing the Sample
Selecting Sample
and Tare Pans
Three kinds of sample pans are available for the
TGA 2050: platinum, alumina ceramic, and
aluminum. The platinum pans come in 50 and
100 µ L sizes, the ceramic pans come in 100,
250, and 500 µ L sizes, and the aluminum pans
are 100 µ L in size. The criteria for choosing a
sample pan are as follows:
• For most experiments, platinum is the
desirable choice. It is easy to clean and does
not react with most organics and polymers.
Ceramic pans are more porous and are
therefore more easily contaminated. There
are some conditions, however, in which
other types of pans are desirable, as
explained below.
• Use ceramic pans for samples that might
amalgamate or react with platinum ( e.g .,
metals, corrosives, inorganics).
• Use aluminum pans when disposability is
desired. Aluminum pans are meant for one
time use in experiments that do not go
above 600°C and for samples that do not
react with aluminum ( e.g. , corrosives, acidic
materials, or anything that would alloy with
aluminum).
• If your sample will melt during the exper-
iment, use a pan that is deep enough to
prevent spilling (the deepest pan is the
500 µ L ceramic pan).
Running an Experiment